A jotter about software testing and some other funny scenarios illustrated with cartoons from Torsten J. Zelger.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Knowing your dress size

This is one of a rare cartoon where its root is not from a software testing happening but rather developed from a
colleague who missed his jacket. He sent an email to everyone asking who
might have taken it.

It later turned out it was Jon (anonymized) who accidentally took it, but
seemed not to realize this jacket was far too big for him. His height was
quite a bit different from the owner’s.

The cartoon is a metaphor on what happens
sometimes when companies start introducing UI test automation. You buy an
expensive tool only to find out, what you want to automate is not supported or
requires expensive add-ons. At the worst, one needs to hire experts to develop extensions,
so the tool works well with the AUT (application-under-test). Of course, these
extensions need maintenance and maintenance is seldom for free. I am not starting a debate about what's best, open source or off-the shelf. This
answer can only be given in a context which we don't have here. But I strongly
believe that it’s no bad practice to first start with a cheap or an open-source solution which fits your current "dress size" and
which lets you experiment, and develop more specific ideas to learn better what
you really need. Having enough time to explore helps you narrow down your
requirements catalogue. You are growing with the experience you make and after
a while you may end up realizing the current "jacket" no
longer fits or needs some boosters. It may also be the right moment to
restart the tool evaluation and look for a more suitable "jacket"
that fits your new dress size, but at least you do this now with a more
specific background - which is knowing your dress size.